Title

Author

Date of Award

4-29-2016

Document Type

Restricted Access Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Joyce Miller

Abstract

During my twenty years as a registered nurse at a small, urban, not-for-profit pediatric specialty healthcare facility, I have become increasingly aware of the complexities that exist within the cross cultural nurse-patient interactions. There are racial disparities prevalent within healthcare. There is often a lack of understanding in cross cultural interactions. Challenged by these encounters at work, suggestive there may be privileges, preferences and disfavor regarding culture, ethnicity and care giving, I became inspired to promote a better understanding about the complexities of the cultural interactions between nurses and the patients for whom they care. Store telling creates understanding and mutuality. The intentional use of storying in the nurse-patient care interaction with six nurses participating in a project called Story Care let to more appreciative understanding of the other's culture, increased consciousness and awareness of self and in interaction with another, and greater trust in the relationship between the nurses, and the patients and families. the nurses, patients and their families had deliberate opportunities for knowing more about the other who was culturally different from themselves, to understand how historical perspectives influence the dynamics of the interaction and to explore a sense of commonality and mutuality within the discordant engagement. Better understanding can lead to better patient outcomes across health, wellness and social inequities.